Commission for Equality and Human Rights: the Government's White Paper

House of Lords House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights Commission for Equality and Human Rights: The Government's White Paper Sixteenth Report of Session 2003–04 HL Paper 156 HC 998 House of Lords House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights Commission for Equality and Human Rights: The Government's White Paper Sixteenth Report of Session 2003–04 Report, together with formal minutes and appendices Ordered by The House of Lords to be printed 21 July 2004 Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 21 July 2004 HL Paper 156 HC 998 Published on 4 August 2004 by authority of the House of Lords and the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is appointed by the House of Lords and the House of Commons to consider matters relating to human rights in the United Kingdom (but excluding consideration of individual cases); proposals for remedial orders, draft remedial orders and remedial orders. The Joint Committee has a maximum of six Members appointed by each House, of whom the quorum for any formal proceedings is two from each House. Current Membership HOUSE OF LORDS HOUSE OF COMMONS Lord Bowness Mr David Chidgey MP (Liberal Democrat, Eastleigh) Lord Campbell of Alloway Jean Corston MP (Labour, Bristol East) (Chairman) Lord Judd Mr Kevin McNamara MP (Labour, Kingston upon Hull) Lord Lester of Herne Hill Mr Richard Shepherd MP Lord Plant of Highfield (Conservative, Aldridge-Brownhills) Baroness Prashar Mr Paul Stinchcombe (Labour, Wellingborough) Mr Shaun Woodward MP (Labour, St Helens South) Powers The Committee has the power to require the submission of written evidence and documents, to examine witnesses, to meet at any time (except when Parliament is prorogued or dissolved), to adjourn from place to place, to appoint specialist advisers, and to make Reports to both Houses. The Lords Committee has power to agree with the Commons in the appointment of a Chairman. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Joint Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the two Houses. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/hrhome.htm. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume. Current Staff The current staff of the Committee are: Paul Evans (Commons Clerk), Nicolas Besly (Lords Clerk), Murray Hunt (Legal Adviser), Róisín Pillay (Committee Specialist), Duma Langton (Committee Assistant) and Pam Morris (Committee Secretary). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Committee Office, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is: 020 7219 2467; the Committee=s e-mail address is [email protected]. Commission for Equality and Human Rights: The Government’s White Paper 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 The case for a human rights commission 5 Our previous report on the proposed Commission 5 The White Paper 6 Areas of difference 7 2 General mandate of the Commission 8 Areas of consensus 8 Protection of human rights 8 International obligations 9 The public and private sectors 9 Public sector duties 10 3 Powers 11 Areas of consensus 11 General powers 11 General inquiries 11 Litigation and related powers 13 Third party interventions 13 Friend of the court 14 Judicial review 14 Supporting individual cases 15 Alternative dispute resolution 16 4 Governance, accountability and independence 18 Areas of consensus 18 State institutions supporting democracy 18 5 Conclusion 22 Formal Minutes 23 Appendices 24 1. Letter from David Lammy MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 24 2. Letter from Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Department of Trade and Industry 24 3. Memorandum from the Disability Rights Commission 25 4. Memorandum from the Equal Opportunities Commission 31 5. Memorandum from the British Humanist Association 34 6. Memorandum from JUSTICE 36 7. Memorandum from the Law Society 39 8. Memorandum from Mr Samuel Budu 43 9. Memorandum from Francesca Klug, Professorial Research Fellow, and Claire O’Brien, Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics 46 10. Memorandum from the Institute for Public Policy Research 54 Reports from the Joint Committee on Human Rights since 2001 61 Commission for Equality and Human Rights: The Government’s White Paper 3 Summary The Government proposes to establish a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights. This is in line with the recommendation the Joint Committee on Human Rights made in its report on the case for a human rights commission in March 2003. The Government published a White Paper in May setting out its proposals for the role, duties and powers of this new body, which it is anticipated will begin its work in 2006, subject to the passage of the necessary legislation. Just before the Government published its White Paper, the Joint Committee on Human Rights published a report setting out its own recommendations on the functions, powers and structure of the new commission so far as they relate to human rights. In this report, the Committee compares the proposals of the White Paper with its own recommendations. The Committee notes that there is agreement between it and the Government on most of the fundamental principles of the design of the Commission. However, the Committee identifies the following areas of divergence and raises questions in relation to them. The precise nature of the general duty to be placed upon the CEHR in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights; the details of the power of the Commission to conduct “general inquiries” into matters connected with human rights; the case for introducing a public sector duty in relation to human rights; the details of the scope of and restrictions on the power of the Commission to support individual cases in the courts in which discrimination and human rights issues are raised; the facilitation of alternative dispute resolution in human rights cases by the Commission; the case for giving the Commission power to seek judicial review of the policies, actions and omissions of public authorities under the Human Rights Act; institutional and funding arrangements to secure the independence and accountability of the new body. The Committee anticipates that the Government will address these remaining areas of difference before it introduces the legislation to establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. Commission for Equality and Human Rights: The Government’s White Paper 5 1 Introduction The case for a human rights commission 1. We reported in March 2003 on The Case for a Human Rights Commission.1 We found the case for the establishment of a human rights commission in Great Britain compelling, and concluded that— … an independent commission would be the most effective way of achieving the shared aim of bringing about a culture of respect for human rights. 2. On 30 October 2003, the Government announced its intention of proceeding with the establishment of a new body, which would take over the responsibilities of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission; which would take on enforcement and promotion responsibilities in relation to the legislation making unlawful unfair discriminatory treatment of people with regard to age, religion or belief and sexual orientation; and which would have responsibilities for the promotion of human rights. This is the model we had favoured in our own report. Our previous report on the proposed Commission 3. We reported again in May 2004 on the Commission for Equality and Human Rights: Structure, Functions and Powers.2 In relation to the functions of the new body, our report recommended that the Commission: a) should have a widely drawn remit in respect of the promotion of a culture of respect for human rights, going beyond the Convention rights incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act; b) should have a role in reporting on the UK’s discharge of its international human rights obligations; c) should be focused on achieving strategic change through promotion, advice, the spreading of best practice and the raising of public awareness; d) should not, for the most part, be directly involved in the resolution of individual cases; e) should have as its key role working with the public sector to give practical effect to a culture of respect for human rights in the policy and practice of providers of public services, and that this should be achieved through close co-operation with the bodies charged with regulating, auditing and inspecting the quality of public services; 1 Sixth Report, Session 2002–03, The Case for a Human Rights Commission, HL Paper 67-I and II, HC 489-I and II; see also Twenty-second Report, Session 2001–02, The Case for a Human Rights Commission: Interim Report, HL Paper 160/HC 1142. 2 Eleventh Report, Session 2003–04, Commission for Equality and Human Rights: Structure, Functions and Powers, HL paper 78/HC 536. 6 Sixteenth Report of Session 2003–04 f) should also be able to guide and advise the private sector on the development of a culture of respect for human rights; g) should have a duty to build the capacity of the private and voluntary sectors to advise and assist individuals in understanding and asserting their rights; h) should promote alternative dispute resolution as a way of avoiding litigation and pre- empting violations of rights; i) should have a general duty to promote good relations between communities and groups within Great Britain based on respect for the values of human rights so as to encourage the peaceful resolution of disputes; We also recommended that these functions should be underpinned by a general statutory duty on public authorities to promote human rights.

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